Montreal - Geography, Demographics, Administration, Culture, Sports, Education, Downtown Montreal, Sister cities

45°30N 73°36W, pop (2000e) 1 139 000. River-port city in S Quebec province, Canada; on Montreal I, on the St Lawrence R (ice-free May–Nov); second largest city in Canada, and second largest French-speaking city in the world; first visited by Cartier, 1535; fort, 1611; founded as Ville-Marie (1642) by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve; developed as a fur-trading centre; surrendered to British, 1760; capital of Canada, 1844–9; British garrison withdrawn, 1870; two airports; railway; metro; four universities (1821, 1876, 1969, 1974), two English-speaking and two French-speaking; major commercial centre; aircraft, railway equipment, oil refining, meat packing, clothing, plastics, footwear, cement, brewing, publishing; trade in grain, timber, paper; Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens; professional teams, Montreal Expos (baseball), Montreal Canadiens (ice hockey); neo-Gothic Notre Dame Church (1829), Christ Church Cathedral, St James Cathedral, Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice (1658), Maisonneuve Monument (1895), Château de Ramezay (now a museum); location of 1967 World's Fair (Expo) and 1976 Olympic Games.

City of Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Ville de Montréal, Québec, Canada)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Concordia Salus
Coordinates: 45°30′N 73°40′W
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Founded	1642
Established	1832
City Mayor	Gérald Tremblay
Area
- City	366.02** km²  (141.3 sq mi)
- Metro	4,047 km² (1,563 sq mi)
Population
- City (2001)	1,583,590**
- Density	4,326.5/km² (11,205.6/sq mi)
- Urban	3,015,665
- Metro	3,635,700
2005
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Postal code span	H
Area code(s)	514/438/450
**Area and city population figures reflect the new 2006 demerged city territory
Website: Ville de Montréal

This article is about Quebec's largest city. For other uses, see Montreal (disambiguation).

Montreal, or Montréal in French, (pronounced /ˌmʌntɹiˈɑːl/ (help·info) in Canadian English, /mɔ̃ʀeal/ (help·info) in International French, and /mɒ̃ɾeal/ in some varieties of Quebec French) is the second largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. At the 2001 Canadian Census, 1,588,590 people lived on the current territory of the city of Montreal proper (new 2006 demerged territory/the island of Montreal is about 1,900,000). The population of the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (also known as Greater Montreal Area) is estimated at 3,720,000 in 2006.

During British rule Montreal surpassed Quebec City, and became the seat of financial and political power for both English and French speaking communities of Canada, a position it held for many years. This fact explains a few of Montreal's former nicknames: "the city of Saints" and "La ville aux cent clochers" (the city of a hundred belltowers).

Post-war

After Montreal's population surpassed one million in the early 1950s, Mayor Jean Drapeau laid down plans for the future development of the city.

In the mid-1970s, following the October Crisis and also due to economic and political shifts after the election of the soverignist Parti Québécois, Montreal's linguistic and ethnic composition underwent a period of transition greater than the norm for urban centres, as many (mostly Anglophone) Montrealers migrated to other provinces.

Montreal was merged with the 27 surrounding municipalities on the Island of Montreal on 1 January 2002. The merger created a unified city of Montreal which covered the entire Island of Montreal. The demerger took place on 1 January 2006, leaving 16 municipalities on the Island of Montreal, including Montreal.

See Montreal merger and demerger

Geography

Overview

Montreal is located in the southwest of the province of Quebec, approximately 270 kilometres (168 miles) southwest of Quebec City, the provincial capital, and 190 kilometres (118 mi) east of Ottawa, the federal capital. It also lies 539 kilometres (335 mi) northeast of Toronto,and 610 kilometres (380 mi) north of New York City.

The city rests on the Island of Montreal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers.

Climate

Montreal lies at the confluence of several climatic regions and thus the climate in Montreal varies greatly.

Weather averages for Montreal, Quebec
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Avg high °F	21	24	35	51	65	73	79	76	66	54	41	27	51
Avg low °F	7	10	21	35	47	56	61	59	50	39	29	13	36
Avg high °C	-6	-4	1	10	18	22	26	24	18	12	5	-2	10
Avg low °C	-13	-12	-6	1	8	13	16	15	10	3	-1	-10	2
Precipitation (in)	2.8	2.6	2.8	2.9	2.7	3.3	3.4	3.6	3.3	3.0	3.5	3.4	37.3
Precipitation (cm)	7	6	7	7	6	8	8	9	8	7	8	8	94
Source: Weatherbase Nov 2006

Botanics

Despite its widely varying climate, the Montreal region supports a diverse array of plants and wildlife.

Demographics

Ethnic origin	Population	Percent
Canadian	1,885,085	55.76%
French	900,485	26.63%
Italian	224,460	6.63%
Irish	161,235	4.76%
English	134,115	3.96%
Scottish	94,705	2.80%
Jewish	80,390	2.37%
Haitian	69,945	2.06%
Greek	55,865	1.65%
German	53,850	1.59%

Origins

According to Statcan, in 2001, the city of Montreal had 1,583,590 inhabitants.

Religions

The city of Montreal is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, which is unusual for many North American cities of its size.

Administration

The head of the city government in Montreal is the mayor, who is first among equals in the City Council.

The city of Montreal is only one component of the larger Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal (English: Montreal Metropolitan Community or MMC), which is in charge of planning, coordinating, and financing economic development, public transportation, garbage collection, etc., across the metropolitan area of Montreal.

See also: Districts of Montreal

Culture

Main article: Montreal culture

Arts

The cultural heart of classical art and the epicenter of many summer festivals, the Place-des-Arts is a complex of different concert and theater halls surrounding a large open-spaced square in downtown. The local English-speaking artistic community nevertheless contributes dynamically to the culture of Montreal, and intense collaborations exist between all Montreal communities.

Festivals

See Festivals and parades in Montreal

The plaza on Place-des-Arts is the home of the most important events during several musical festivals, including the Montreal International Jazz Festival and Montreal Francofolies, a festival of French-speaking song artists.

Montreal industries include telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, high technology, finance, textile and clothing manufacturing, higher education, electronic goods, software engineering, building and city engineering, transportation devices, printed goods, aerospace and tobacco.

Montreal is a major port city along the Seaway, a deep-draft inland waterway links it to the industrial centres of the Great Lakes.

Sports

The biggest sport following in Montreal clearly belongs to hockey – and the city is famous for its hockey-hungry fans.

Montreal is also the site of two high-profile racing events each year: the Canadian Grand Prix, and the Molson Indy Montreal of the Champcars Series.

Montreal was the home of a major league baseball team, the Montreal Expos, named after the 1967 World's Fair, and began playing in Montreal in 1969.

Current professional franchises

Club	League	Sport	Venue	Established	Championships
Montreal Canadiens	NHL	Hockey	Bell Centre	1909	24
Montreal Alouettes	CFL	Football	Percival Molson Memorial Stadium Olympic Stadium	1946-87 1996-today	6
Montreal Impact	USL	Soccer	Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard	1993	2
Montreal Matrix	ABA	Basketball	Centre Pierre Charbonneau	2005	0
Montreal Mission	NRL	Ringette	Various	2004	0

Former professional franchises

Club	League	Venue	Years	Championships
Montreal Expos	Major League Baseball	Olympic Stadium	1969–2004	0
Montreal Express	National Lacrosse League	Bell Centre	2001–2002	0
Montreal Dragons	National Basketball League	Verdun Auditorium	1993–1994	0
Montreal Rocket	Quebec Major Junior Hockey League	Bell Centre Maurice Richard Arena	1999-2003	0
Montreal Roadrunners	Roller Hockey International	Montreal Forum	1994–1995	0
		Molson Centre	1996–1997
Montreal Supra	Canadian Soccer League		1988–1992	0
Montreal Manic	NASL	Olympic Stadium	1981-1983	0
Montreal Machine	World League of American Football		1991–1992	0
Montreal Concordes	Canadian Football League		1982–1985 1986 as the Montreal Alouettes	0
Montreal Alouettes	Canadian Football League		1946–1981
Montreal Voyageurs	American Hockey League		1969–1971	0
Montreal Maroons	National Hockey League	Montreal Forum	1924–1938	2
Montreal Wanderers	National Hockey League		1903–1918	7
Montreal Shamrocks	Amateur Hockey Association		1896–1898	2
	Canadian Amateur Hockey League		1898–1905
	Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association		1905–1909
	Canadian Hockey Association		1909–1910
	National Hockey Association		1909–1910
Montreal Royals	International League	Stade Hector Racine	1939–1960	2

Recreational sports

See also: List of Montreal parks

Beaches

There are five beaches around the island. Current water quality of Montreal beaches (French)

Cycling

Montreal has an excellent network of bicycle paths.

Passenger rail

VIA Rail, which is headquartered in Montreal, provides several rail services to other cities in Canada, particularly to Québec City and Toronto with several trains daily.

Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger rail system also provides service to Montreal, operating its Adirondack daily between Montreal and New York City.

Roads

Like many major cities, Montreal has a problem with vehicular traffic congestion, especially from off-island suburbs such as Laval on Île Jésus, and Longueuil on the southeastern shore.

Limited-access highways (Autoroutes)

The island of Montreal is a hub for the Québec Autoroute system, and is served by Québec Autoroutes A-10 (aka the Bonaventure Expressway on the island of Montreal), A-15 (aka the Decarie Expressway south of the A-40 and the Laurentian Autoroute to the north of it), A-13 (aka Autoroute Chomedey), A-20, A-25, A-40 (part of the Trans-Canada Highway system, and known as "The Metropolitan" or simply "The Met" in its elevated mid-town section), A-520, and A-720 (aka the Ville-Marie Autoroute). (Osirus Azer, "Montreal's Traffic Problems", 2006)

Street grid system

Since Montreal is on an island, the directions used in the city plan do not precisely correspond with compass directions, as they are oriented to the geography of the island.

Education

With access to six universities and twelve junior colleges in an 8 kilometer (5 mi) radius, Montreal has the second highest concentration of post-secondary students of all major cities in North America.

Francophone universities

Université de Montréal: École Polytechnique de Montréal HEC Montréal - École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal Université du Québec: Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) École de technologie supérieure (ETS) École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP) Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) Université de Sherbrooke (Located in Sherbrooke, campus in Longueuil) Université Laval (Located in Québec, campus in Longueuil)

English-language universities

McGill University Concordia University

English-language secondary public schools in the Greater Metropolitan Montréal Area are operated by the English Montreal School Board .

Downtown Montreal

Main Article: Places in Montreal

Panorama of downtown Montreal, night. The Tour de la Bourse (Stock Exchange Tower) is also a significant building in Montreal, and is home to the Montreal Exchange, that trades in derivatives such as futures contracts and options. Old Montreal was a worldwide port, but shipping has been moved further east to the Port de Montreal site, leaving the Old Port/Vieux-Port as an historical area.

Old Montreal

Just southeast of downtown is Old Montreal (Vieux-Montréal), an historic area with such attractions as the Old Port, Place Jacques-Cartier, City Hall, the Marché Bonsecours, Place d'Armes, Pointe-à-Callière Museum, and the Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica.

Shipping has been moved further east to the Port de Montreal site, leaving the riverside area of Old Port/Vieux-Port adjacent to Old Montreal as a recreational and historical area now maintained by Parks Canada.

Underground City

Montreal's Underground City (French: La ville souterraine) is the set of underground city complexes in and around downtown.

North: Laval, Repentigny
West: Vaudreuil-Dorion, L'Île-Perrot	Montreal Demerged municipalities	East: Longueuil, Saint-Lambert
	South: Kahnawake, Brossard, Ste-Catherine, St-Constant

Sister cities

Athens, Greece Beer Sheva, Israel Hiroshima, Japan Shanghai, China Daegu, South Korea Busan, South Korea Hannover, Germany Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States Honolulu, Hawaii, United States New York City, New York, United States Amsterdam, Netherlands London, England Los Angeles, California, United States Paris, France Toulouse, France Volgograd, Russia Yerevan, Armenia